WEDNESDAY REFLECTION
Mid-week Reflection:
Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time
During recent research for Art of the Month, I came across a splendid eighteenth century oil painting of a wedding banquet by the Dutch artist, Martin van Meytens which was commissioned to mark the marriage in 1760 of the Hapsburg Crown Prince Joseph II to Isabella of Parma at Vienna’s Hofburg Palace. It portrays in wondrous detail an incredibly sumptuous occasion with hundreds of the great and the good in attendance. Tables are set with porcelain and gold utensils with magnificent treats and flowers and musicians all in abundance. The banquet Jesus invites us to is open, not just to the great and the good but to everyone. The wealthy aristocrats are welcome. The poor and destitute are welcome. The intellectually gifted and the slow learners are welcome. The pious and the brigands are welcome, too. All invited to God’s banquet. Sadly some refuse to attend. Some are cruel and hostile and indifferent to the Inviter. The hospitality of the king is immense. ‘Invite everyone you find to the wedding!’ he says. That is God’s attitude to everyone on earth. A Catholic School exists to foster the faith of our young students. Teachers have a rare opportunity to bring their pupils to Christ’s banquet and, possibly uniquely, also to those who do not receive formation in other places. Will we help them and inspire them to say ‘yes’? It is not enough to be baptised or to call ourselves, Catholic. As teachers in a Catholic School, we should live our faith. As parents who send our children to a Catholic school, we should live our faith. We should not leave the invitation, ignored or unanswered on our mantelpieces!
Let us pray:
Lord, our God, help us, priests, teachers and parents, to work tirelessly for the spread of the Gospel in our parishes, schools and homes so that we may merit the rewards of your Kingdom. We ask this in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
Monsignor Monaghan
